Lady in Red Ch. 32

Steve and Gwen were surprised at the attention they attracted when they stepped off the bus to tour some of the more famous landmarks in Moscow. People crowded around them, took pictures with their cameras and phones, and more than a few asked for autographs. Most of the younger ones spoke English and were quite polite. At the second stop, Steve found a copy of 'The Moscow Times', which was printed in English. He showed it to Gwen.

"Wow! They really gave us a lot of print. No wonder everyone recognizes us. Our pictures are plastered all over the paper, as well as the fact that we'd be arriving today. I don't think we have fans this excited to see us back in the US. It looks like we should put a few butts in the seats at that Fisht Stadium."

The entourage returned to their hotel well after dark. They had jammed as many stops into the afternoon and evening as they could. After a very enjoyable dinner, they drifted into the lounge area where an excellent pianist was playing and singing quite well. Gwen and Jordan both mentioned how odd it felt to recognize the music, but not the lyrics.

Everyone danced with their partners for a few dances. Then Steve, at Gwen's strong suggestion, asked his grandmother for a dance. "Dancing with my grandson in a luxury hotel in Moscow is far more than I ever even dreamed of. You're a wonderful dancer, like your mother. I regret so much what I did to her."

"Grandmother, that's all in the past. It all worked out. If things had been different, I might not have been born, or I might not have met Gwen, or who knows what may have happened differently. Don't dwell on the past; let's make this a trip to remember."

"You're absolutely correct. Judging from the sounds coming from your hotel room, you'll have a great deal to remember. Your young lady certainly is vocal in her encouragement and appreciation of your efforts. She's a wonderful girl, and she's so in love with you. I know it was her idea to invite me along on this amazing trip. I'll spend the rest of my life thanking her for her generosity."

Steve blushed at his grandmother's reference to his hotel room noises. He promised himself that he's be more careful the rest of their stay. Steve danced with Ashley and Lisa before Kate grabbed him and led him onto the floor. She drew as close to him as she could for their dance. Steve wondered if he would have to pry her off when the music ended.

He soon learned that he needn't have worried. When the song ended, Kate stepped away and whispered, "He's all yours, Nadiya," as she gave his hand to the beautiful Ukrainian girl.

"You have so many beautiful women with you, and they are all in love with you. Does it not bother Gwen that so many of her family and friends are so smitten by you?"

"Gwen and I have an understanding. She's the only one for me, and I'm the only one for her. I love all of the women with us, but Gwen is the one I want. I'll never risk losing her, or hurting her in that way. She knows that."

"Then she won't mind this?" chuckled Nadiya as she moved in very close to Steve. "There are many countrymen here that know me and I want to make them a little jealous. Is that awful? Am I a bad person?"

"Not from where I'm standing," replied Steve graciously. "I can't imagine how you could be any better."

"No wonder all of these women are in love with you! You are not only strong and handsome, but you are such a gentleman. My friends are taking pictures of us. Would you mind if I took you over and introduced you to our trade delegation? It would only take a few minutes."

"I'd be delighted," responded Steve as he danced Nadiya toward her group. When the song ended, she began introducing him to her delegation, including her father. He was a large man with a very firm handshake. Steve liked him immediately and they chatted in Russian for several minutes, while Nadiya stood close by and beamed.

After about five minutes, Steve excused himself and went in search of Gwen. He found her dancing with a tall man a few years older than she and Steve. The man was making a serious effort to draw Gwen tighter to his body while Gwen was attempting to maintain a little distance. The man's hand kept dropping down to Gwen's ass and she kept pulling it up to her back.

Ted started toward them when Steve placed his hand on Ted's shoulder. "Let me handle this," was all he said, but Ted nodded and returned to his seat.

The song had ended, but the tall man did not release Gwen. He appeared to be waiting for the next song as he kept his arms around her. It was apparent that Gwen was not happy with the situation, but they were in a foreign land and she did not want any trouble. She had no doubt that Steve could kick the tall man's butt, but that scenario worried her. They did not want to be involved in any bad publicity.

Meanwhile Steve approached the man playing the piano and quietly spoke to him. The fellow grinned at Steve and began a new song. After a few chords, Steve walked onto the dance floor and began singing.

"Tonight it's very clear, as we're both lying here, there's so many things I want to say." Steve made his way directly to Gwen as he sang. Gwen quickly gleaned Steve's intent and gave him a huge smile. Then she sang the next line, just as they did in their music video.

By this time, the tall man was feeling very uncomfortable as everyone's attention was drawn to Gwen as she faced Steve and sang, "I will always love you, I would never leave you."

As Steve began the next line in the song while closing the distance to Gwen, the tall man dropped his arms and walked away. Gwen smiled again as Steve took her into his arms and began dancing with her as he sang. By this time, everyone else had vacated the dance floor and watched from the sides as the two American lovers entertained everyone in the lounge. There was thunderous applause when the two ended the song and bowed gracefully.

"Did you see that, Grandma?" squealed Jen as she clapped her approval. "Steve's so smart. He could have beaten that guy up, but he knew that would have repercussions. He found a better way to get rid of the jerk. Didn't they sing great?"

Steve escorted Gwen back to their table as people slapped him on the back and congratulated him. "That was a stroke of genius!" joked Kate. "You knew your singing would drive that creep right off the floor!"

"Excuse me, Sir," interrupted a swarthy man with hotel ID on his shirt. "The hotel would be very willing to upgrade your rooms, or make some other concessions if you and the lady would entertain our guests for another hour or so and again tomorrow evening. We seldom have such talented performers in our hotel. The publicity would be most beneficial."

"If that proposal includes Jordan Quick, we'd be happy to oblige," replied Steve immediately. "We'd like a room that either has soundproofing or is far away from any other guests. If you can arrange that, we'll get started right now."

Jordan, Gwen, and Steve spent the next hour and a half singing some of their songs and responding to questions in the comparatively intimate atmosphere of the lounge. Charlie filled in on the piano and the impromptu show was very well received. Word quickly spread in the hotel and the lounge was very crowded by the time the group finished for the evening.

When Steve and Gwen finally retired to their new hotel room, they found their luggage already waiting for them. "That was a great idea about changing our rooms. Mom, Lisa, and Kate all told me that they heard us take our 'nap' this afternoon. It was pretty embarrassing," admitted Gwen.

"Oh, yeah? Try having your strait-laced grandmother tell you how much your girlfriend seems to enjoy your lovemaking, if you really want to be embarrassed," responded Steve as Gwen's jaw dropped.

The group spent Sunday in Moscow sightseeing. That evening found Gwen, Jordan, and Steve entertaining a very crowded lounge. Steve and Charlie brought their acoustic guitars to supply some more background for the songs. Jordan played the piano and sang while Gwen sang lead on some songs and back-up on others.

"Paula, your daughter has an amazing voice," stated an obviously impressed Beatrice Patterson. "It's difficult for me to accept that I'm in Moscow watching my grandson, his girlfriend, and his lady friend, Jordan Quick, perform in a lounge in a luxury hotel. Next week we'll see them perform in front of thousands live and in person and millions on television. That's all before we attend a state dinner with the presidents of Russia, France, and the United States, along with high ranking diplomats and statesmen from other countries."

"It's been one adventure after another since Gwen met Steve at our local mall last fall," recounted Paula. "Steve's strength and love has allowed Gwen to blossom and reach her potential. When the two of them are together, anything is possible. It looks like someone important is going to meet with them right now."

"That's Vlad Novokov! His father is the Russian president," gasped Beatrice as she watched her grandson shake hands with the important young Russian.

"I have heard a great deal about you, as well as Ms. Anderson and Ms. Quick," began the Vlad Novokov in excellent English as he shook Steve's hand. "This lady at my side is my fiancé, Anna Chekov. We will be flying to Sochi with you tomorrow. My father wants to use this trip to demonstrate how safe traveling is in Russia. Terrorists are not in control."

"I have heard a lot about you, Mr. Novokov," responded Steve as he shook the other man's hand. "I had heard that you were engaged to a beautiful woman, but I never dreamed she would be this lovely."

"I can see why you have so many gorgeous women around you, Mr. Hammer, I mean Steve," joked Anna in excellent English. "You are very smooth. If you don't mind, we'd like to listen to you perform this evening and perhaps I might even manage a dance with you. I know Vlad would very much like a dance with the beautiful American ladies next to you."

"How could we refuse the opportunity to have a dance with such a dashing and handsome man?" teased Gwen as she first shook Vlad's hand and then hugged a surprised Anna. Jordan soon followed suit, but Anna anticipated that hug and returned it warmly.

Jordan and Gwen took turns dancing with Vlad while Steve managed a couple turns with Anna. As they danced Steve questioned her about the situation with the jailed Olympic spy.

"The man is a national hero! He was not spying on the French. What do they even have to spy on? They were just retaliating because Vlad's father refused to sell them natural gas. We have to provide for our friends in Eastern Europe and can no longer send gas to France. That is what this mess is all about. Russia will not be held hostage by France. We will find a way to return our Olympic hero in time for the Sochi games."

Vlad and Anna stayed until the group stopped performing at midnight. The next morning, they were on the bus hired to take Steve's group to the airport for the flight to Sochi. Steve sat next to Vlad on the flight to Sochi while Gwen chatted with Anna most of the trip.

Once again the group climbed into a bus to transport them, this time to the Olympic village. They were only a mile or so away from the airport when a blast shook the bus. Steve looked out the window to see fire pouring out of a building about a block ahead of the bus. He saw dazed people wandering away from the apparent site of the explosion.

Without conscious thought, Steve rushed to the front of the stopped bus and opened the door. He hit the ground running as he hurried to the scene of the disaster. As he approached a structure that was billowing smoke from doors and windows, he heard enough from the locals to know that the explosion had occurred in a small elementary school and children and teachers were still in the building.

Steve turned and entered the building. Jason, Charlie, Billy, Ted, and Vlad had hurried off the bus in an effort to keep up with Steve. As they rushed up the street, Vlad informed the other Americans what he was hearing from witnesses so that they would understand the situation. To a man, they all entered the doorway they had seen Steve use.

"Oh, no! Dad and Steve and the others have gone into that burning building! What should we do?" cried Kate as she watched her father disappear into the smoke.

"We need to start helping the wounded and get prepared for more. Those men will be bringing out injured people. Let's set up on that playground and start helping those that need it," reasoned Gwen as she led her friends and family across the street to a small playground.

As she walked, Gwen gathered up what looked to be a girl about seven that was bleeding from a head wound. She placed her on a small picnic table and looked around for any material to use on the wounds.

"Mr. Patterson! We need bandages for these people. Could you start making some from whatever clothes people can spare?" asked Gwen as she examined the child for any life threatening injuries.

Seeing Gwen act so quickly and calmly, the rest of her group began offering assistance to anyone that appeared to be harmed in any way. Charlotte soon had a small boy resting on a second picnic table as she examined his badly bleeding arm. Steve's grandfather had ripped his own shirt into strips, handed the strips to Gwen and Charlotte, and was gesturing for others to do the same. The locals caught on quickly and started offering articles of clothing to the American women as they worked to aid the injured.

Soon several Russian women joined in as more injured were brought to the playground. Then Steve suddenly emerged from the smoke and dust that was streaming from the building. In his arms was a woman. She clutched her bulging stomach and groaned as Steve rushed up to Gwen.

"She's having a baby! It's just started showing. Take care of her while I go help the others," insisted Steve as he gently placed the woman on the table, spun, and rushed back into the building.

Ted and Billie appeared a short time later, each carrying a small child. Jason followed with two kids in his arms while both Vlad and Charlie emerged carrying older women. Several local men also carried children from the building. Flames began shooting out the windows and the roof started to slowly collapse as the horrified onlookers stood and stared.

"Where's Steve?" called Jen as the side of the building began to crumble. Gwen turned to look at the destruction, even as she tended to the woman in labor. Smoke and dust billowed outward in a huge cloud as the two story building simply collapsed onto the ground floor.

No one spoke as the din of the building collapsing slowly died out. Only the flames licking at fallen timbers could be heard.

"There he is!" yelled Kate as the dust and smoke swirled away to reveal Steve on his knees in the street, clutching a thin blonde girl in his arms. Shaking his head, he regained his footing and started across the crowded street.

Emergency personnel and vehicles began arriving as Steve moved beside Gwen with the child clinging tightly to his neck. Gwen was tending to the woman when she yelled at Steve. "I need your shirt! The baby's coming!"

Steve quickly placed the child he was holding on the ground and pulled his shirt over his head. He shook it violently to rid it of most of the dust. Then he handed it to Gwen, just in time for the baby to make its grand entrance! Gwen deftly caught it in Steve's shirt and wiped it off as well as she could.

Suddenly she handed the now crying baby girl to Steve and quickly pulled her blouse over her head. She spread the blouse out, carefully removed the baby from Steve's shirt and placed it on her blouse. Then she meticulously folded the blouse around the baby and picked it back up.

By this time the small girl that Steve had carried from the burning building was back in his arms, clutching his neck as tightly as her tiny arms could manage. Her little face was pressed to Steve's as she and Steve both watched Gwen hold the crying newborn. Gwen smiled at the baby and then gently placed her on her mother's chest. The new mother smiled her thanks and clutched the infant lovingly.

Suddenly an almost hysterical woman rushed up to Steve with her arms out. The child in Steve's arms released her grip around his neck and extended her hands toward the frantic woman. Gwen listened as Steve spoke to the woman briefly in Russian. The young woman gave Steve a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she took the child and disappeared into the crowd that had formed.

Emergency personnel spread throughout the makeshift field hospital, replacing those that had been giving aid to the injured. The mother and baby were loaded into a waiting ambulance and driven away.

Gwen stepped up to Steve and wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her tremble in his arms and pushed her back slightly to look at her eyes. Then Steve saw what Gwen was focused on. Behind him and off to the side were four little bodies and two larger ones, all placed on blankets.

Steve took Gwen's hand and moved closer to the unfortunate victims. He dropped to his knees and Gwen quickly followed suit. As they mourned the victims, the rest of the American entourage knelt down on either side of them and bowed their heads. Seemingly from nowhere, and old man with a beard stepped in front of them and began what was obviously a Russian prayer. As he spoke, Steve softly translated it for his group. By the time the old man finished the prayer, dozens of people were kneeling alongside the Americans.

Everyone remained on their knees for another minute or so. Then Steve stood and the rest followed his lead. With his head bowed, he placed an arm over Gwen's shoulders and started back down the street to the bus they had so recently abandoned.

It was a somber group that climbed back onto the bus. Then they sat quietly as police directed the bus to a place it could turn around and backtrack a block. Then they resumed their journey to the Olympic Village. Gwen leaned her face into Steve's neck and remained silent as he once again curled one arm around her shoulders.

It was late afternoon by the time the group arrived at the hotel. They checked in and then gathered at the hotel restaurant for dinner and quiet conversation. Amber Stahl joined them twenty minutes later.

"I sent my video report back to the studio when I got to my room. As you can guess, the station was eager to air my report on the events of today. One of the reasons for the intense interest is the photograph that's on, or will be on, the front page of almost every newspaper around the world. I saw it on a copy of The New York Times online. It's just incredible.

"It seems that a couple from Nebraska was traveling here on a bus that was right behind ours. The wife snapped some pictures of the events today and sent them to her local TV station. They were shown on air, and then placed on the station's web page and social media links.

"The photo that's so remarkable shows Gwen holding the newborn baby. It's wrapped in her red blouse, with Gwen, Steve, and that adorable little girl that was clinging to him, looking down at it in Gwen's arms. Get this part. The sun was reflecting off a broken window behind Gwen and it looks like a halo around her head! Remember that she had removed her blouse to cover the baby, and her bra was strapless? In the photo, you see the baby, the top of Gwen's breasts with no visible clothing, and Steve standing bare chested next to her, clutching that cute little girl in his arms. The effect is breath taking! It's like a modern day nativity scene. No one's suggesting any divine intervention, but the viewers can make their own determination. The legend of the Lady in Red will continue to grow. That's for sure!"